A Swiss international driving permit is not valid in Japan. To drive there you need your Swiss licence, an official Japanese translation of it, and your passport. The rental counter checks all three, and without the translation it won't hand over the car.
Why isn't the Swiss permit accepted?
Japan recognises international permits only if they are issued under the Geneva Convention on Road Traffic of 19 September 1949. Switzerland signed that convention on the day it was drawn up and then never ratified it, so it never became a party. The United Nations Treaty Collection shows exactly that: a signature from 1949 and no ratification after it.
It catches people out because the Swiss permit works almost everywhere else. Japan simply measures against one treaty and sticks to it. For Switzerland, and for Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan, the route Japan offers instead is a Japanese translation of your national licence.
Does it matter that I'm Swiss?
What matters is where your licence was issued. If it's a Swiss Führerausweis, permis de conduire or licenza di condurre, you need the translation, whatever passport you hold. The language your licence is written in makes no difference.
What should be in the car?
Your original Swiss licence, the paper original of the Japanese translation and your passport. Keep them together. The police can ask for the passport to confirm your date of entry, since the translation is valid for one year from the day you arrive in Japan, or until your licence expires if that comes first. Leave and come back, and that year starts again.
Can I apply from Switzerland?
Not directly. Since 1 April 2025 the JAF takes applications only through a Japanese-language web form, reachable only from within Japan, paid by credit card and delivered to a Japanese address. The old counter and postal routes are gone, so any guide describing them is out of date.
The JAF quotes an average of two to three business days for Swiss licences once the application is in, not counting Japanese weekends and public holidays.
How early should I do it?
Before you book the car, if you can. A lot of Japanese rental companies ask for the translation as part of the reservation. We see this constantly with our own campervan guests in Fukuoka, who are mostly European: the booking stalls because the document doesn't exist yet.
If you order today, this is the timing:
We commit to the submission date because we control it. After that the JAF does the work, so the arrival date is an estimate, not a promise.
What does it cost in francs?
With us, from CHF 99, with faster options if your flight is close. The JAF revised its fees on 1 July 2026, but the fee for Swiss licence holders who only want to drive in Japan temporarily did not change.
The detail that's easy to miss when comparing prices: some services hand you a code to print at a convenience store once you're in Japan. That leaves you without the document when you book. Ours arrives as a PDF by email before you leave, so you can book the car. To drive, you use the JAF's paper original, which we deliver to your hotel or rental counter in Japan for an extra CHF 10, from the day after the translation is ready.
Apply for the translation or read this in German.
Checked against the JAF's official English guidance and the UN Treaty Collection in September 2026. Karen and Doko Shibagaki, Camjyo Inc., Fukuoka.
